Stakeout
by robinh
Summary: A strange car crash, high profile targets, long and hard and complicated investigation. but seriously, did you really expect Steve to be satisfied with standing on the sidelines? It starts as a stakeout...
1. Chapter 1

**1A/N: **I own nothing. All characters unfortunately belong to CBS.

Started off as an idea for a one shot, but felt like it has more potential.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

"Oh god, this is unbearable" she cries in what must be the fifteenth time in the last ten minutes. They are sitting in the parked car, the third day in a raw, watching the big mansion and she feels like one more minute of this torture is going kill her. "We've been sitting here for days" she whines "doing absolutely nothing, boiling ourselves to death and making no progress whatsoever."

"We're not doing nothing, cuz" Chin says levelly from his position at the wheel "we're on a stakeout, it's a very common police procedure. You have to give it some time in order to get results. Try to have a little patience."

"_Patience_?" she looks at him resentfully. She swears it's almost ninety five degrees inside the car, and Chin didn't even break a sweat. Another poof he's the coolest guy ever. "How can I have patience? We've been looking at this house for ages and didn't even see the targets. We saw a few delivery trucks, a guy that came to cut some bushes at the north side of the fence and that's about it. I mean, even the dog was taken out by one of the staff and not by the owners. It's pointless."

"It's not pointless" Chin smiles at her fatherly. She hates it when he does that, it makes her feel like a schoolgirl again "we're doing it for a reason. Just because it's not the usual way we work, doesn't mean it's not a well proven police method that helped law enforcement capture bad guys for decades" he explains for the hundredth time "the house is the key and we're in a good covered position here. You know perfectly well, we don't have enough for a search warrant, and that the only way to do it is to be thorough and to open our eyes. Eventually they'll come out of there, or the other targets will come in and we would have front row seats to take some pictures. Stay sharp. This is the only way to do it."

"There must be an easier way." she sighs

"I can't think of any." He shrugs "and neither can Steve. You heard him this morning, we've got nothing else and the targets are first priority. That's the way we…"

"There _is_ an easier way" she grunts, a frown on her face when she realizes it. Because, yeah, Steve! He and his thoughtless assignments delegation. He simply stuck them in this boiling car and took Danny to go over the actual data and the police reports. Of course he kept the fun stuff for himself "I want to see him sitting here without moving even for ten minutes" she points her finger towards Chin, "he'll probably explode out of boredom and… I don't know… _shoot something_."

"You want Steve to handle the stakeout?" he looks at her skeptically.

"Yes" she cries "why not? I mean, we're a _team_. We _share _our assignments. He has to let us take turns in this. Honestly, if he thinks he can get away with subjecting young, defenseless women to this type of continuous excruciating pain and misery without…"

"_Defenseless_?" Chin looks at her amused.

"You know what I mean."

"He'll never do it" Chin says, looking at the house again.

"Why not?" she shrieks "he's usually a fair guy."

"Yeah, fair. And if it would be up to him, he would be happy to take some of the burden off of us."

"So…?"

"He's afraid."

"Afraid? Of a stupid stakeout?"

"Of sitting here alone, without moving, with nothing to do, _with Danny_."

()()()

"I can see your point" he promises her when she walks after him to his office and stands there, arms crossed on her chest and a resentful look on her face.

"Good" she nods "so you'll do it?"

"Do you really think it's wise?" he looks at her skeptically "you and Chin have already made some kind of routine there. You got to know the schedule of the house, and already…"

"There's no routine whatsoever" she notifies him dryly "the house is practically shut down. We hardly saw any movements. We haven't even had a peek at the targets. I'm quite confident you'd be able to figure out everything in two seconds."

"I see" he frowns, and she can see that he's trying desperately to think about some other predicament.

"Please, Steve" she is willing to beg if this is what it's gonna take "I can't do it anymore. I'm sitting there with Chin, and he doesn't even talk. He just looks straight ahead, in that _zeny_ way of his, focusing on the house. He hardly answers when I talk to him, he doesn't let me turn on the radio, he doesn't want to eat, or to play cards. Please, Steve" she whispers "it's actually dangerous. I might lose my mind completely and you'll be stuck with the two of them on your own."

"Fine" he sighs eventually "I'll switch it around. But I'm telling you right now, _I'm not_ _sitting there with Danny_. He'll drive me crazy in no time, and I'll have to shoot him and it will blow our cover."

"Okay" she smiles happily.

"Chin doesn't sound like the best partner either from what you've been telling me" he shakes his head at her "I tell you what, I'll have him and Danny work on the paper trail and we'll take the stakeout."

"_Wait_" she calls after him when he walks out the door to inform their teammates about the unavoidable change in the assignments "so I'm still stuck there, watching that stupid house?"

"It'll be great" he promises her from behind his back, a he's walking to the main room "I'll be right there with you. I'm sure we could find something fun to do."

()()()

It's a shitty case. At least she thinks so. Usually Steve would never go with such a boring case that is based on intelligence and careful assessments rather than running around, shooting and fighting people. But his FBI buddy, Michael, came and asked for his help, and three days ago he gathered them all around the smart table and the two men explained everything and informed them they are taking this case on, because as luck would have it, they are simply the only ones who can help.

The targets are Richard and Patricia Boyd. He comes from a long dynasty of oil tycoons, and she is a cold hearted business woman who practically runs his share of the family business. The FBI had been running a long an elaborated investigation of their business. They are suspected of having the bad habit of taking over small companies, and doing it by bullying the owners, harassing the employees and eventually buying them at a low cost. According to several of the testimonies, in recent events the degree of bullying had increased substantially. In the last couple of years they have regressed even to _murders_ of the more vocal objectors to their actions. The hunt had been going on for years and it's a hard case, requiring a lot of resources and efforts. Steve's buddy Michael was not in any position to tell them more than that because some of it is classified. They're not stupid. The whole business smells of political corruption and high officials' involvement especially when the Boyds' names were mentioned in relation to the last elections in Colorado.

The couple has a mansion in Hawaii. It serves as their winter home and it' located in one of the more exclusive residential neighborhoods. They spend weeks there every winter, using the secluded and heavily secured place to entertain business associates, selected socialites, political figures and most importantly, carefully selected potential "partners" or as the FBI like to call them, _victims_. For years the FBI have been trying to infiltrate those weekend long parties and at least get a glimpse of the participants. They had no such luck, the heavy security check, the preliminary information gathering, proved to be a major barrier. Until this year, when suddenly they had a good way in.

They had two agents, posing as a rich couple. They had the cover identities of a steel manufacturer and his wife. It took a lot, but finally they were able to get an invitation. The amount of details and time invested in their back story, had finally paid off and the Boyds' took the bait. This year's gathering in Hawaii, was supposed to be the breakthrough they have all been waiting for. They were about to catch the Boyds doing their nasty business in real time.

….

A terrible car accident, a week before the party involving the two agents as they were driving from the Hawaii international airport to their luxurious hotel brought the end to this part of the investigation.

"We've lost eight months of preparations." Michael, Steve's FBI buddy told them during their initial meeting "our agents are badly hurt. One of them is still hanging on a limb, in the ICU."

"I remember that car accident" Danny mumbles "on the H1, right?" a red corvette smashed into a big cement truck."

"Yes" Michael nodded.

"You sure it was an accident?" Danny, always the suspicious asked.

"It's classified" was the only answer. She looked at Steve, as they were all hearing that, his shoulders tightened at the words and there was that familiar shadow in his blue eyes that indicated suppressed anger.

"The department wants to shut down the entire operation. They took away half of my men power, with the intention of taking the rest soon. But I know they're wrong, the weekend party is still a go" Michael explained to the four of them "although we have no one inside, I feel that we should still make the best of it. I wish I could use my own guys, but as I said… this has been a long investigation and I had a lot of objections from my superiors, possibly some outside pressure on the agency, too…" he sighed, looking at the pictures of the Boyds' mansion that he threw a few minutes before on the smart table. "I need your help with monitoring the place" he looked at them with a silent plea "we need to monitor the mansion, try to identify the guests, so we could at least run some intel on them. You'll be covering our operation from afar. Doing only surveillance, nothing more elaborated… "

"A stakeout?" Steve frowned.

"Yes. _Just_ a stakeout. Until after the weekend… look guys, my people were hurt, after they've almost gave their lives for this mission, I can't just let it go."

Steve looked at the three of them seeing the silent agreement "fine" he said decisively "whatever you need, man."

"I need you to monitor the house. Take pictures; gather information about the event that is about to be held there in this coming weekend. You are not expected to engage with the targets, don't try to make contact, don't try to initiate anyth…"

Michael could probably see Steve's disappointed expression too because he added "you are there only for intelligence gathering, Steve. I mean it."

()()()

It took exactly two seconds after Michael's departure, leaving behind him the information about the Boyds for Steve to look back at the three of them with raised eye brows.

"Intelligence gathering your ass, is it?" Danny asked rhetorically.

"Kono, Chin you'll take the mansion. Try to follow Michael's instructions but also to identify some entry points and holes in the security. Danny, we're going to HPD to dig into that car crash. I want to see who we're dealing here with."

"Steve, this is an FBI investigation, you can't just barge in there and…"

"They tried to kill two law enforcement operatives on _my island_. Of course I'm going to barge in there."

He was out the door even before finishing his sentence. Danny ran after him, trying to make him see sense. Evidently, it was completely futile. She found herself pulling her hair out in torment and misery, sitting in that boiling car an hour later.

()()()

"Mmmm… Australia."

"Australia?" he grins at her "your favorite place, after Hawaii?"

"Yes. I went there for a surfing competition when I was 19. The best waves in the world, guaranteed. Also, the best people. Everybody there is so happy and sporty and they sure can handle their drinks."

He only smiles. "Besides, Australian men… oh god, I'm telling you. Best looking men in the entire world." His smile disappears when she says it, all dreamy eyes, her tongue running over her lower lip slowly. "It's really hot there, and with the sea, and the sun… it seems like no one bothers to wear any clothes. Maybe wearing a shirt is illegal in Australia, I have no idea, because otherwise I can't really explain how they are all walking around, with those muscles, all tanned and sexy and…"

"I got the picture." He grumbles, picking his binoculars again, and making himself busy scanning the house.

"Have you ever been to Australia?" she asks innocently.

"Nope." He says drily "there's not a lot of SEAL's operations in Oceania."

"You should go" she mumbles, but he doesn't answer and they remain silent for a long long time.

"So, what's yours?" she asks after a while.

"My favorite place after Hawaii?" he smiles at her "mmmm… I guess... I don't know… Afghanistan maybe..."

"_Afghanistan?!_" she looks at him strangely "seriously?"

He looks at her unsurely "well, the mountains are nice, and the air is clean…"

"Right" she looks at him suspiciously "I'm glad to hear you had time to appreciate the scenery while you were there..."

"Two vehicles, north gait" he cries suddenly, forcing her to focus on the task at hand. He throws the binoculars on her lap as he turns on the ignition. She raises the binoculars. A convoy of a deep blue Cadillac, followed by what appears to be a black armed van is driving through the gates and turns right towards the main road.

"I can't see anything, the windows are tinted." She informs him as he pulls off of their parking spot and follows the vehicles from a good distance.

"Run the plate number." He instructs her, focusing on the vehicles, pacing his drive.

"Nothing in the HPD database" she informs him after a few seconds "I'll send it to Chin." She's busy arranging for a comprehensive data search on the phone with Chin as Steve drives them behind the two cars.

"They're turning to the highway" he mumbles "they'll see us. Ask Chin if he can identify them on the traffic cameras feed, so we can keep our distance."

()()()

Chin and Danny have it all figured out pretty quickly. They make a good system where the two guys in HQ are leading them blind, helping them follow the cars from parallel roads. Steve's driving is impeccable; she has to give him that, because he manages to maneuver the truck on the dusty roads without tipping them over.

"I lost them on exit 22." Chin tells them suddenly.

"We have no camera feed there. I think it's busted" Danny explains.

"Shit" Steve shakes his head in irritation.

"Wait, exit 22" she smiles suddenly "I know where they're headed. Turn right here, I'll show you."

()()()

She directs him to a beach he never knew about. When they get there, she points the two vehicles to him triumphantly.

He smiles at her, shaking his head "how did you know where they're going?"

"It's a beach in Hawaii" she shrugs, as they hop out of the car and start to make their way towards the crowded beach. "I know all the beaches around here. Yo ucan test me."

"Woooo" he whistles when they reach the top of a sand hill that separates them from the people on the water line "it looks… luxurious."

"It is. It's a private beach that takes a very high admission fee and have very unique services" she explains as she's scanning the beach slowly using her binoculars "when we were young, we used to go over the fence on the other side of the dune and sneak in to look at all the rich people. We were caught once." She smiles "and Chin had to bail me out of jail. My parents were livid… He's still reminding me of that whenever I do something… hey look! There!" She points to a small secluded piece of sand where she spots their targets. The Boyds are sitting under a golden sun-shade with their three bodyguards around them. The bodyguards wear sandy color pants and black buttoned up shirts and they can clearly see the outline of concealed weapon under their clothes.

He takes the binoculars from her hand, and scans the scene in front of him.

"There's only three of them…" he mumbles.

"Right…" she says cautiously "your point being…"

"We can probably take them."

"Is that where we forget the fact that we're only here for _surveillance_?"

"Well…" he smiles "we're just trying to be…"

"_Reckless?_"

"_Thorough!_"

She looks at him thoughtfully for a few seconds, as he's still scanning the beach, planning a full scale breach no doubt. "Okay" she sighs, making her way back to the truck "it's better than just going back to the car and waiting. But if we're going to make contact, we're doing it my way."

()()()

"What the hell are you doing?" he looks at her pulling her top off.

"What does it look I'm doing? I'm taking my shirt off." His eyes go straight to the minimal bathing suit she's wearing under her tank top, and she has to cough slightly to gain his attention back. "Well, what are you waiting for? Take off your shoes."

"My shoes?"

"Shoes, over shirt, gun, badge, everything. We're at the beach as you might have noticed. If you step in there looking like this, they couldn't miss you even if they tried."

She takes off her shoes, and puts the gun and badge on the passenger seat. She folds the pant legs of her jeans up and takes a bottle of water from the cabin of the truck, and pours it on her hair. In mere seconds she looks like she'd spent the entire morning in the sea. He looks at her with amusement, she's only missing her surf board and it'll be perfect.

"Go on…" she nudges him when she sees he'd lost track again, as he just stands there watching her, transfixed.

"I only have these" he indicates to his clothes "I don't wear a bathing suit 24/7."

"You're pathetic" she informs him, shaking her head "in times like this, I'm reminded that despite everything, you're still a haole." She looks at him thoughtfully for a minute "okay, tee shirt off, over shirt back on to cover your tattoos, shoes off, badge, gun, we'll have to go with the pants, but hopefully they'll look at… ehmmm… other directions."

He does as she says quickly, under her careful watch, and she almost stops breathing when he takes off his shirt and stands there under the sun half naked, muscular and beautiful. He puts back on his over shirt, but leaves his chest bare. "Well?" he asks after she just stands there, transfixed for a few seconds.

"What?" she looks at him in bewilderment.

"How do I look?" She blushes completely. She'll have him know, if it was up to her, she would push him right then and there on the back seat and ravish him, the hell with the investigation.

"You look fine" she grumbles, taking a deep breath, shaking her head at her pathetic reaction. When she starts walking towards the beach and their targets, she thinks she hears him chuckle.

()()()

They walk hand in hand on the beach, approaching their targets slowly. She leans on his shoulder, and laughs loudly, and he smiles when he sees the Boyds looking their way. He grabs her around her waist and presses his lips into her hair "they're looking at us" he whispers "the bodyguards look jumpy."

She nods once, and entwines her fingers with his, as she caresses his hair gently; planting a soft kiss on his cheek "we're getting closer. I'm going to make an approach soon."

"No, you're not" he smiles, but his hand clothes on hers; trying to prevent her from doing something stupid "they have guns. I can clearly see the silhouettes of hand Uzis."

"Just play along" she whispers, before laughing openly again, as she starts running, pulling him behind her. He runs too, and laughs, his eyes move frantically between her and the armed men. They're getting closer and closer to the Boyds, and she's still laughing... Three yards from their targets she crashes on the sand, pulling him on top of her. They are practically on the Boyds' luxurious beach mat; he can almost smell their sunscreen. He starts to think it was a very bad idea, after all…

Until… She holds him around his neck, as he lies there on top of her, and his eyes suddenly fix on her smiling face, the armed men almost forgotten. She pulls him against her and he can feel her leg sliding up the back of his leg. He can hardly breath, she's intoxicating, lying half naked and beautiful beneath him.

"Sell it, Steve" she whispers when he's still hovering above her, breathing labouringly, his eyes on her sensual lips "they're looking at us, _sell it_!." It's all the invitation he needs, he simply crashes on her and captures her mouth with his own, drowning in her warm body.

()()()

It's more than she'd bargained for.

It's too much.

Too intense.

To... _real!_

For god's sakes, she always knew he would be rubbish at undercover work.

His strong, muscular, half naked body is all around her, his lips demanding, his tongue exploring her mouth, his touches sending electrical waves from her over sensitive skin straight to her core. There are no armed men anymore, no Boyds, no case, nothing, only the burning heat of desire he entices in her. This is definitely not what was supposed to have happened. Her fingers bury into his back, her leg around his ass, preventing him from ever getting away from her…

"_Excuse me_" they hear a voice from three miles away. She's just holding him tighter "S_ir, Madam_…" the voice is louder, and more impatient.

"Mmmm…?" she can hear Steve's confused voice, as he leaves her mouth, and turns on his side, but still holding her against him.

"This is a private spot" one of the armed men is standing above them, and they can both see his hand moves towards his concealed hand gun.

"Ohhh" Kono is the first to get out of her stupor "We're so sorry" she smiles, blushing without even pretending "it's… she pushes Steve away from her gently and sits up, looking at their targets from up close, for the first time "I'm so sorry" she smiles "we're… we're in our honeymoon. I guess we were… carried away a bit… you know how it is..."

"I'm sorry" Steve stands up, and reaches with his hand to help Kono up. When she does, he holds her against him immediately. She tries not to take a lot of notice to the way he holds her possessively around her waist, because it makes her feel like pushing him down on the sand again to continue where they've left off, and they've just made initial contact, so it would be highly unprofessional.

"I'm… S…"Steve begins, and she steps on his bare foot, to stop him from using his real name. He's so bad at undercover work, it's simply ridiculous. "S…Stan" he corrects "Stanley Edwards." He shakes hands with Richard Boyd, and she silently hopes he wouldn't break his hand or something.

"I'm Rachel" she smiles, leaning on Steve's shoulder.

"Stanley Edwards... I think I've heard about you" Richard Boyd smiles towards Steve "you have a lot of businesses here on the island."

"It's very nice to meet you" Patricia Boyd is lowering her sun glasses and sending a predatory look towards Steve's upper body in a way that makes Kono wish she had her gun with her "You two look like a lovely couple."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hey there, yes I'm back, and I'll try to post more regularly, now that I have a multi-chapter fic running. What can I tell you? New year, new energies, new positive thoughts. I really want to thank those of you who read, follow, favor and most importantly comment on this fic. I hope you'll like where this is going.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

"_You did what?!_"

He looks at her nervously, sitting in the passenger seat beside him before he answers.

"We've made an approach" he says again "I'm sorry Michael, it was unavoidable." She looks at him strangely. He never lies; he's the most honest man she'd ever met. He must _really think_ that conducting a full scale chase across the north shore, falling on top of their targets in minimal clothes, introducing themselves using false identities and getting an invitation for the weekend, was indeed, an unavoidable occurrence. She rolls her eyes at the thought. Knowing him and his lack of ability to stand still while there's a mission at hand he's right, it _was in fact totally unavoidable_.

"I thought we talked about you doing _surveillance_" Michael's desperate words are coming from the speaker phone "what happened to 'make no contact', 'keep your distance', 'you're only there to monitor their movements' and all that other stuff I said to you at least _one hundred times_? Geez Steve, it's like when we were on the team together. Then too, you used to totally ignore Joe's instructions, sometimes even before he had the time to give them!" She looks at him carefully, but he doesn't look bothered by this accusation.

"We've made contact, Michael" he explains patiently "and they are actually going to let us in their house. After having your entire operation blown, I thought you'd be thrilled."

"_Thrilled?!_" Michael cries in indignation "more like horrified. I can't back something like that; I hardly have the manpower to handle a simple stakeout. This is way way way over the line, Steve. My superiors will hand me my ass on a platter."

"Not if you'll make an arrest by the end of it." He says patiently.

"Well… Probably…" Michael's soft reply is heard over the phone after a few long moments.

"Look Michael, we can do it, I promise you. I have a very clear plan. Trust me."

"Fine" Michael sighs "I'll come to meet with you in HQ and you can tell me all about it." Then he hangs up the phone.

"You have a clear plan?" she asks him skeptically.

"I will" he smiles towards her.

()()()

"_You did what?!_"

Chin and Danny are looking at them in alarm.

"You try…" he indicates to her with irritation. "God only knows what's wrong with people's ears today. Nobody seems to hear anything I say. Michael too… when we…"

"We found them on the beach; we made an approach and started a conversation. They were quite pleasant really, and they seemed to like us." They look at her like she's crazy but she tries not to take it too personally "the important thing is that we think we got an invitation for the weekend" she looks at their stunned faces for a second "it was actually much easier than I thought it would be."

"You mean to tell me that you simply waltzed in there, showed them your badges and guns and started a conversation?" Chin looks at them skeptically "did you also invite them to come to HQ for a friendly interrogation while you're at it?"

"Of course we didn't just walk there" Steve scoffs "we've used a more… _concealed_ approach."

"Concealed?" Chin looks at him curiously.

"We've changed our appearances. Looked like regular tourists."

"And they weren't surprised when two strangers just walked over to them and started a conversation?"

"Well, I wouldn't describe it as _walked_…"

"Really?" Chin is looking worriedly at Kono and she can see his senses are on high alert now "so how exactly would you describe it?"

"Mmm… _Crashed_… maybe…" he says slowly, trying not to flinch.

"_Crashed_?!"

"Pretty much, yeah. On the sand. With Kono…" he looks at her, swallowing nervously "and we were… well… there's a possibility we were kissing…"

"A possibility?" Chin's voice is pure ice.

"It's very likely."

"How likely?"

"We were actually kissing."

"I'd bet if I killed you now, no jury will ever convict me."

" Don't overreact cuz" Kono says annoyed, trying to block the thrill she feels when a flashback of Steve's muscular body above her attacks her senses suddenly "it was a just regular undercover approach. We were trying to initiate contact in an inconspicuous way and we've succeeded. It's that simple" His taste is still in her mouth when she says it, and the electric wave she feels when she runs her tongue on her lower lip, where Steve's tongue was less than an hour ago, probably takes some of her conviction.

"Undercover approach?" Chin looks at them angrily "without preparation? With no proper back story, or a backup team? This is really unprofessional, guys. Next you'll tell me you gave them your real names."

"_Of course we didn't_" they say it together. Even though, it was a close one, she has to admit.

"Thanks god for small miracles then" he shakes his head at them. "So tell me" he looks at them with a frown "what are the names of the Boyds' new best friends on the island?"

()()()

"_You did what?!_"

She sighs in despair. Here we go again.

"We used Stan's and Rachel's names for our cover" he tells his furious partner, again. He looks unperturbed, but she can see very clearly how he makes a small change to his stance and unconsciously reaches for his gun's holster.

"_How could you do it?_" Danny cries, looking at Steve like he just shot his puppy or something.

"I'm sorry, man" Steve has the decency to look a bit guilty "it was a close call, I had to think fast and it was the first name that popped into my head."

Danny looks at him with fury and suspicion for a few seconds "you were about to give them your real name, weren't you?" he spits with contempt "you bastard! It was the first name you could think of that starts with the letter S, wasn't it?"

"It was a lucky thing that I did, mind you" Steve _doesn't actually_ deny his partner's accusation "Boyd had heard of Stan. He knows about his business. That was what gave us an in. They are constantly looking for potential victims, and Stan's name caught their attention."

"You are out of your mind" Danny shakes his head in amazement "how could you do it? Stan is a dick, I don't care about him but even though Rachel is the ex-wife from hell, it's still…"

"The ex-wife from hell?" Kono is looking at Steve curiously "I thought you said she was cool."

"She _is_" Steve confirms "she's very cool, and very pretty. Way out of Danny's league."

"No she's not" Danny stops his frantic pacing and hand flailing abruptly looking resentfully at Steve. Steve only looks at him skeptically "fine, maybe a little…" Danny mumbles "Steve, I have a daughter on this island, this could be dangerous."

"Danny, _I know_ they're all in Vegas this weekend. You were whining about it for the last two weeks. This will all be under control. Trust me. It's just this weekend, and then we're wrapping it all up. Nothing will happen to them, I promise you."

Danny shakes his head in despair "he's right" Kono puts her hand on his shoulder "I'm sorry Danny, we should have talked about it beforehand, but it was a split of a second thing, and we…"

"_Don't defend him_" He looks at her sharply "you _always_ defend him. He messes up and gets people hurt, and you make it look like he acted sensibly."

"No I don't" she frowns.

"You usually do" Chin says from behind her "which is quite impressive. Because usually it's really hard to make his actions look sensible."

She sends a questioning look towards Steve.

"Don't listen to them" he waves his hand dismissively "they're out of their minds. I always act sensibly."

()()()

"_This was very sensible of you"_ Michael informs him as he scans the online information about Stanley Edwards. "I'm surprised my team didn't pick up on the guy. I mean, look at his activities. He has quite an operation here. It looks small, but when you actually connect all the dots, the guy runs a multi-million operation nationwide." He scrolls down the data, looking for details about Stan. There're not a lot of pictures. Stan is a shrewd businessman; his activity is confined to the lawyers' rooms and planning committees. He keeps his public figure on a low key, stays away from the press, I can definitely work with that…" Michael mumbles "we'll manipulate some of the websites, change the hierarchy in Google-search so that the material we put in will be first on the results list. Nothing that will hold a full scale commercial intelligence investigation, but it will probably be enough for the preliminary search."

"Did you just say you'll manipulate Google-search?" Kono's eyes light up with excitement.

"We have our ways…" Michael smiles "we're the FBI, remember? Look, we won't touch the financial information or the business activity. We'll just tweak some of the personal information to fit you better." He makes a quick search looking for images of the Edwards family and manages to pull out two pictures of Stan and Rachel in a charity auction from last year. "Wow" he whistles at the images before he looks over at Danny "_you_ were married to _her_?!"

"Yes I was." Danny frowns, as his partners smile silently around him "we also have a daughter together." He says with defiance and Michael is probably a good enough agent to appreciate the touchy subject and to keep quiet. "And I'll have you know" he continues with anger "that _she_ came on to _me_ when we first met... I think she found me quite irresistible…" his anger is rising as his partners burst out laughing at his uncontained rage.

"Either way" Michael clears his throat, trying to change the subject quickly "we'll take off Rachel's and Stan's pictures, put Steve's and Kono's faces in the more approachable websites. We can't change everything, but we can make it confusing enough to persuade them you are indeed Stan and Rachel. We'll have to get you telephone numbers, a house… these people are serious. We're lucky they have only two days to look into your background so they'll have to skimp on security, but we have to make it convincing enough for them not to be intimidated. The best option would be to use the Edwards' real home, maybe the cars…" Steve looks at Danny questioningly.

"No way" Danny shakes his head.

"They are in Vegas. We can just…"

"We're not breaking into Rachel's home!"

"We won't be breaking in" he says patiently "you have a spare key…"

"No!"

"Danno…"

There's a long tense moment when Steve and Danny are just standing there, looking at each other sharply, absorbed in their usual form of outraged silent communication. It's captivating, the way their expressions change as the seconds go by. Until suddenly Danny makes a move and shakes his head, and Steve smiles triumphantly.

"Fine" Danny grumbles "but I want to be the one to tell her. If we'll do it behind her back and she'll ever find out about it, the next time I'll see Grace will be in her fiftieth birthday."

"Fair enough" Steve nods "make the call."

"Ehheemm…" Michael coughs slightly as Danny pulls out his phone. They all look at him questioningly "we'll also need a full wardrobe for you two. Expensive clothes, shoes, watches, jewelry." They still don't get what he's saying "look guys, you're posing as a rich and sophisticated couple. I don't think cargo pants and Kevlar will send the right message." They both look at themselves questioningly "I'm only saying, we're on a tight schedule here. We have little time to prepare. If we get access to the Edwards' home, and they have all their belongings there anyway…"

Danny mumbles something under his breath and Steve is really happy Michael can't hear it. He watches his partner's back as he walks into his office to make the private call to his wife. They'll have to count on the guy's charms, or on Rachel's good will. A long shot in both cases, he fears.

()()()

"That's what we know" Michael explains to the four of them when Danny is back "the Boyds are highly suspicious. They usually follow their intended victims for months, maybe years before they make an approach. It took us almost eight months to introduce our two agents, and during that time they were thoroughly investigated, were under constant surveillance, their families were researched, their assets, their work history… We had twenty five operatives working on the cover story around the clock, we had computer experts creating an entire database to back them up, and we had the right paper trail."

"And after all that, they were still compromised." Chin says what in all their minds.

"We have to assume so, yes." Michael's eyes are clouded "we're looking into it, but at this point I can't even put my finger on the weakest link."

"So how do you explain the fact they were so quick to invite Steve and Kono?" Danny asks "they sound like two crazy paranoids. It doesn't fit."

"I guess they are desperate. They had two marks that were found as FBI agents, now they have vacancy around the table. Look…" Michael looks at them nervously "we always suspected there's another person who pulls the strings over there. I think it confirms our suspicion. They need to bring results to someone so they have to make do with less than perfectly chosen targets and without the usual tight intelligence gathering."

"They are probably under the impression that it's way too quick for the FBI to come with an elaborated contingency plan." Kono says thoughtfully "they must think it's extremely unlikely that the FBI will send more operatives in with no preparation, or a good back up."

"I'm under the same impression myself" Danny mumbles "I think this plan is crazy."

"They had good information about your two operatives" Steve ignores Danny's statement "they were able to produce a very high level attack on them. Maybe they know about the manpower elimination and the way the FBI is pulling out from the case."

"You think they have a source?" Chin asks "inside the FBI?"

"It fits" Steve nods "Michael, you approached us on your own volition because you are my friend; their source must have missed it."

Michael only looks at them silently.

"Wait, wait…" Danny watches him in alarm "you suspected a leak all along, didn't you? This is why you came to us in the first place… you knew Steve would never be able to fight the temptation. You never wanted us _only for a stakeout_, you wanted us involved!"

"I had no choice" he bows his head.

"You lied to us."

"I didn't" he cries, but when Danny sends him a warning glare "… I might have emphasized certain aspects of the case on the expense of… other aspects..."

"Can you believe it?" Danny shrieks, looking at Steve. Steve only watches Michael in silence.

"I almost lost two very dedicated and courageous agents" Michael says quietly "this people, they control so much money and influence and they just walk around like they own the bloody country. They ruin good people, they kill like it's nothing, and they use political figures and law enforcement agencies like their own private armies. How could I ever let this go?" They only watch him, listening carefully "look, I got new data two months ago. They are involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping; they have threatened the previous owner of a big steel factory in Pennsylvania by taking his _six years old daughter_. We found the girl in an abandoned mine, with bruises and cuts and… I can't stop now. I have to stop them; can't you see that…?" he looks at them desperately as they stand there in silence for a few more minutes. Then Steve rubs his face and looks up at Michael "We can see that" he says "can't we Danny?" Danny nods his agreement "go on then. Tell us all you know about their MO."

…

"They will bring you to the house and practically lock you in there." Michael sighs in relief before he continues. "They'll let you bring your phones but at a certain point, you'd be asked to leave them in the room, or the charger will go missing or the reception will fail… They'll keep you secluded, with no communication means. You'll spend the first day or two eating good food, drinking, _a lot of drinking_, you'll spend time in the pool, you'll smoke expensive cigars, you'll have drugs" They all look carefully at each other but remain silent "you'll have massages, if they have to they'll provide you with the… desired intimate companion… by the end of this, they'll have enough on you to create pressure points and to damage your personal or public figure. Only at this point will they begin with the business dealings. Usually this is when their marks give them all the information they need for a takeover. Targets that don't comply, or are decent enough to finish the weekend unharmed, are threatened in other ways. More… _persuasive ways_, and usually this is when people die..."

They all nod their understanding. She doesn't have to look at Chin and Danny to know they are almost on edge. Steve's reaction is less tangible.

"They will use everything they can to get you under their thumbs" Michael continues "they'll have you monitored. Targets have told us about microphones and cameras in the rooms."

Steve looks at Kono worriedly and she looks back at him. They both realize, it's a whole new level of an undercover job.

"There's a probability that except from you there'll be more targets there. It's hard to know. Nobody will identify himself in his full name, and there are a lot of participants that play along in the Boyds' operation. In the past, when we were able to locate some of the victims they were so compromised and scared they were not willing to give us information about other people. I'm sorry guys. I know it sounds bad."

"It is bad" Kono mumbles and they all just stand there processing all the details.

()()()

"We won't be able to reach you by your phones" Chin is the first to speak "we'll have to find a way for you to call us."

"I might have a solution" Michael smiles. He pulls a few gadgets from his briefcase. A small black communication device "this is an old fashioned transmitter" he explains. "It's not sophisticated, but it's similar to the communication device the army has so it can basically work even when they use scramblers and monitoring devices. It works with…"

"Energy bursts" Kono says impressed, picking the little black device in her hand "I've heard about it. Chin look…"

Chin takes the device from her hand "it's smaller than I would have thought" he mumbles "they can't locate the transmission because it's low frequency and doesn't work constantly. Brilliant."

"That's very… cute" Danny says with a raised eyebrow "so they can call us without detection, that's nice. What about the microphones and the cameras in the room? The minute they pull this thing out and start talking they're busted."

"Good point" Michael produces another gadget from his briefcase. It's a small blue bracelet.

"What's that?" Steve picks up the bracelet.

"It's a parameter voice manipulator" he says like it's obvious. The looks on their faces suggest that it isn't. "it doesn't look like much but it's very sophisticated. Look, we thought about it before, when we planned our original operation. We can't do anything with the cameras. If you'll mess with it they'll know you're on to something, and if you'll bust them they'll just come in and fix them when you're not there. But with the microphones… my tech-guy came up with a very nice plan. This voice manipulator doesn't block the transmission. The microphone still going to catch everything you say in that room but it's going to mess with the quality."

Chin goes to his office and brings a police issued communication device and puts it on the table. He pulls out headphones and puts them on "speak" he says to Steve. When Steve speaks a few sentences there's a big smile on Chin's face "this is genius" he tells the rest of them.

"The device messes with the frequency, the volume, the balance between the background and the person who speaks but doesn't touch the digital transmission. They'll get a signal, so they'll suspect nothing. The nice part is that they'll never understand a single word."

"They'll know something's wrong" Danny mumbles "obviously."

"Sure" Michael shrugs "they'll send their tech guys to fix it but it will be perfectly fine. You can leave the bracelet in the room, they'll never know what's wrong and until they do, you'll already be out of there."

()()()

They move in to the Edwards.

"So this is where Danny's wife lives?" she looks around her in awe.

"Ex-wife" he mumbles, picking her bag and carrying their two bags upstairs "he's very particular about that distinction" She walks behind him looking around her, watching the luxurious house with wonder.

"Steve, look" she stops for a second "the door handles are painted in gold. I mean, I've been to Danny's place; it must be completely confusing for Gracie to move between these two places… "

"I know" he smiles "but she always says she likes it better at Danny's. I think she's lying. She's such a great kid."

"I'm not sure she's lying" she mumbles under her breath "this place looks like a museum, I can't believe somebody lives here" they enter the bedroom and she stops with surprise. The room is bigger than her whole apartment "I don't think we should be here" she whispers at him anxiously.

"Why are you whispering?" he whispers back.

She only looks at him strangely "I don't know" she whispers "it seems like the right thing to do."

"It's fine" he tells her in his normal voice. Well, almost his normal voice. He speaks a little quieter than usual, just in case. "Danny spoke to Rachel, she gave the okay. She is totally fine with the whole thing."

"You sure?" she looks at him with suspicion.

"Yeah. She told Danny they'll talk about it when she's back on the island and that we can use what we need in the mean time."

"Interesting…" she eyes him thoughtfully.

"She was married to a cop" he shrugs "she can appreciate these are special circumstances."

"You mean you don't find it odd that she wasn't even angry?"

"Nope."

"Danny thinks she's going to kill him when she's back, but I told him he's exaggerating. She's a very decent person. I told you."

"I would take a Kevlar."

"Hu?"

"To that discussion, with Rachel. If I was Danny."

"Now you're exaggerating" he dismisses.

"You simply have no clue in regards to women, now have you?" she crosses her arms on her chest looking at him pitifully.

"I know plenty" he promises her with a smug smile "believe me." Now who's exaggerating?

()()()

The walk-in closet is larger than her living room. She stands there, with her mouth open wide swallowing the big collection of garments and shoes in a mix of surprise and exhilaration.

It takes him an hour to realize she's gone. When he goes to look for her he finds her standing in front of the mirror wearing a deep blue gown that clings to her body in a way that he's quite sure, should be illegal.

"Rachel's a bit shorter than me" she tells him when she sees him watching her through the mirror, his eyes following every curve, every angle as if he was mesmerized "it's all very tight, and the cleavage is way deeper than I usually wear, I mean, it looks a bit weird, but I think I'll manage to pull it off…what do you think?"

It takes a few long moments until his mind can translate what he sees to some form of coherent speech.

"I think you look fine" he mumbles, when he feels a hot wave covering his neck and face. He turns around quickly, and retreats back to the main room. There are practically seven hundred doors in this wretched house. One of them has to lead to a cold shower.


End file.
